Here are the previous sermon series that we have run at Christ Church. You can follow the links to see details of the sermons from each series.
This series will be asking a series of questions on the Kingdom of God. After considering what the ‘The Kingdom of God’ actually means we will then consider why Jesus used parables to speak about the Kingdom and then how the healings, exorcisms and meals of Jesus were connected to it. St Paul does mention the Kingdom of God but not nearly as often as Jesus and in the last sermon of this series we will consider why this might have been the case.
Most of Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom of God was through telling stories called parables. The nature of these stories suggests that Jesus saw the pictures created by these parables as the most appropriate way of conveying the truths about the Kingdom of God. But he also taught this way because such parables required his hearers to engage with faith if they were to recognise the new world coming into the old that these stories spoke of. Looking four parables grouped together in Chapter 4 of Mark’s Gospel, this series will encourage us to consider what these parables of the kingdom have to say to our lives both as individuals and as a church.
Following up from the previous series, this one will take four characters from the Old Testament – Moses, Nehemiah, Gideon and Esther and consider what we learn from their stories about God and how we are called to respond to him.
Asking searching questions is often the key to us really growing in our understanding of why our Christian faith contains the things that it does. In this series we will therefore reflect upon ‘why on earth’ we need the Old Testament, the Sacraments, to use our Gifts and Talents, the Holy Spirit and to understand God as Trinity. The title of the series is deliberate since in many ways it will be an extended exposition of ‘Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’.
The world is full of many great things for us to enjoy such as parties, friendships, music, sport, food and drink and sex. The church, however, can often appear to possess only a neutral or negative message in relation to these things, which is one of the reasons so many teenagers and young people struggle with Christianity’s relevance. The answer is a much stronger theology of creation which recognises the original goodness of all that God has made. Thinking through God’s intention in creating the good things of the world can hopefully lead to us handling these things as well as possible and then receiving more of his blessings through them.
Awareness of the existence of evil within the world has sometimes made Christians less clear than we should be about the essential goodness of God’s creation. One of the reasons why the New Testament emphasises Jesus’ role in creation (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2), however, is because a strong theology of creation is needed if we are to really understand and apply the salvation which Jesus came to bring us. During this series we will therefore look at the creation stories in Genesis 1 and think through God’s intentions in giving us such a wonderful world.
Having delved back on our past at the six30 service during March, we will use April and the season of Easter to look towards our future. Reflecting on the new life that we can receive through Jesus Christ, we will examine a number of areas within our lives and consider how God might be calling us to be renewed there.
Many of us will already realise that the significance of Easter goes beyond the chance to eat chocolate eggs (possibly after forty days of avoiding such things!). However we can still be tempted to see the significance of Easter purely in terms of securing our personal destiny which can then lead to a rather individualised understanding of both ‘the Gospel’ and our Christian life. Seeking to avoid this danger (and conscious of the looming General Election), we will therefore reflect at both the 9.30 and 11.00 services upon the significance of Easter for both our personal destiny and that of the world. Integral to this will be consideration of the radical implications of this for both our private and public lives, as individuals and also as God’s people.
Many of us will already realise that the significance of Easter goes beyond the chance to eat chocolate eggs (possibly after forty days of avoiding such things!). However we can still be tempted to see the significance of Easter purely in terms of securing our personal destiny which can then lead to a rather individualised understanding of both ‘the Gospel’ and our Christian life. Seeking to avoid this danger (and conscious of the looming General Election), we will therefore reflect at both the 9.30 and 11.00 services upon the significance of Easter for both our personal destiny and that of the world. Integral to this will be consideration of the radical implications of this for both our private and public lives, as individuals and also as God’s people.
All of us have ‘baggage’ from our past that affects the way in which we live in the present and particularly the problems that we have. Very often these issues are so well hidden that even good friends at church are largely unaware of their existence. The danger then becomes that these problems are then masked by our ‘worship’ rather than dealt with. This series will therefore aim to help members of the six30 service revisit some of these experiences with the aim of allowing the love of Jesus minister to their consequences and open the way to receiving his new life within them.
The call to repentance lies at the heart of the Christian gospel and is reflected in the act of confession that occurs near the start of most of our services at Christ Church. Sometimes reduced to personal contrition, ‘repentance’ is actually a far broader term referring to our lives being actively turned around by God. During this series we will take a deeper look at the meaning of repentance reflecting upon what will actually change in our conduct if we take repentance seriously.
Lent is traditionally a time for taking stock of our lives. During this series (which will also be followed at the 9.30am service during March) we will therefore look at a number of areas within our lives, including our approach to money and relationships, and reflect upon what God wants to change within them.
Some of the most popular sermons at six30@ccnm in recent times have been those in which people have spoken on the theme of ‘Why I am a Christian’. During this series five other people will speak on ‘My Story of Mission’, with the aim of inspiring and challenging us through the story of their very different experiences of Christian mission.
Christ Church has had a long tradition of supporting Christian mission overseas. As well as thinking about how we could deepen our involvement in this mission, this series will also focus on how we might be more involved in God’s mission to both New Malden and our family and friends.
Think of missionary work and many associate it with Europeans wearing pith helmets and going out to ‘darkest Africa’. The Bible is clear, however, that all Christians are called to be part of God’s mission to the world and during this series we will look at some of the different ways that we can be involved in this.
Paul’s letter to the Philippians is one of the greatest testimonies that we possess of the difference made through having a personal relationship with Jesus. During this series we will look at various different aspects of that relationship as we seek to ‘go deeper’ with Jesus in our own lives.
One of the most important aspects of deepening our relationship with God is allowing the Holy Spirit to make us more like Jesus. During this series we will therefore look at each of the fruit of the Holy Spirit that Paul speaks of in Galatians 5 and look for practical ways in which these could further develop in our lives.
One of the most important claims of Christianity is that we can enjoy a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. During this series we will use a number of stories from Luke’s Gospel to think about some of the things that this relationship can bring us – forgiveness, purpose, acceptance and peace.
In all the business surrounding Christmas, we can often find it extremely hard to prepare in any way for what its celebration of Jesus’ coming should bring to our lives. This series will seek to help us to look for those things that God wants to bring us in the way of comfort and challenge this Christmas.
As well as thinking about the first coming of Jesus, Christmas is a time when we focus on the future coming of Jesus. In this series we will therefore look at a number of questions and issues connected with this.
After years of celebrating Christmas, its stories can sometimes be dulled by over familiarity. During this series we will therefore seek to uncover some of those elements that make these stories deeply shocking and challenging.
With much of the emphasis within the evangelical and charismatic traditions placed upon our personal relationship with God, we can sometimes end up having a much ‘lower’ doctrine of Church than the Bible possesses. In this series will be therefore look at a number of very practical ways in which we can both ‘do church’ and ‘be church’ better.
Written to Christians that he hadn’t personally met, Paul’s letter to the church at Colossae concentrates on the ‘fullness’ that we can find by keeping our focus on Jesus. During this series we will seek to apply its important truths both to our individual lives and our life as a church.
One of the most important things we should be seeking to do, as Christians and as a church, is to relate our faith to contemporary issues. During this series in September we will therefore be thinking about how we respond as Christians to the current issues of ‘Alcohol’, ‘Parliamentary Corruption’, The ‘Pick ‘n Mix’ culture and ‘Swine Flu’.
Written in the early days of Christianity, the ‘Apostles' Creed’ is a summary of the central elements of Christian belief. It contains a number of vital truths about God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit but also the Church and our future hope. During this series (which will continue into November), we will take a different line of the Creed each week, unpack its meaning and look for its application as we seek to follow Jesus today.
Written to a fairly new church, Paul’s first letter to the church at Thessalonica, 1 Thessalonians focuses on the ways in which ‘the Gospel’ or ‘Good News’ of Jesus Christ should shape everything about the life of the church. After a couple of introductory sermons asking ‘What is the Gospel?’ and how it first arrived at Thessalonica, we will then go through 1 Thessalonians seeking to apply its truths to our context at Christ Church.
Having completed the study on 1 Thessalonians, during November we looked at a number of practical ways in which we need to relate ‘the gospel’ to further aspects of our church life together.
This sermon series 1 Kings chapters 12 to 16 - a section that is very rarely looked at, let alone preached on. It covers the period between the end of King Solomon's reign and the arival of the prophet Elijah. By looking at the history within these chapters, we hope to reflect a little bit more on the God who has worked through history, and will continue to do so.
During the summer it is good to unwind and what better way than with some of the best stories contained in the Bible! So during August, sit back and relax as we follow the ups and downs of one of the most important figures in the Old Testament – the prophet Elijah.
With the recent ordination of Helen Hancock and Carolyn Lucas as well as Katy Loffman training as a Lay Reader, we need to remember that God calls all Christians to ministry. In the light of this, the talks in the series will look at different aspects of God’s calling and how he wants us to respond.
One of the things that might surprise us is how many characters in the Bible finish less well than they began. With all of us growing older how we respond to this change is therefore a crucial spiritual issue. Looking at both both negative and positive examples (sometimes from the same character!) this series of sermons will therefore be seeking to challenge all of us on how to allow God’s grace to shape us as we grow older.
